IEEE Member Profile: Brett Pierce

IEEE Western NC Newsletter - August 2006

Each issue, the IEEE WNC will spotlight one of our consultants or regular
IEEE members to highlight their capabilities and recent accomplishments.

Did you ever wonder who’s behind making those neat interactive exhibits
work at museums and science centers? Well it was probably someone like Brett
Pierce who designs and builds custom electronic controls, which integrate an
array of special effects to captivate, entertain, and even educates visitors.
Pierce owns and operates Interactive Electronics Design,
LLC.

Recently, Pierce designed and programmed custom controls for interactive exhibits
at the Colburn Science Center in Asheville and the Catawba Science Center in
Hickory. Presently, he is working on a musical instrument sound exhibit for the
new HandsOn! Children’s Gallery in Hendersonville.

He’s also working with Asheville Artist, John Payne, on an interactive
dinosaur sculpture exhibit which will travel around the country to major museums
starting early next year. Interactive ’s electronic control will animate the sculptures
byproviding motion, sound, light, and other specialeffects. Pierce provided John
with an easy way to articulate the sculptures and record animation sequences
with a wireless remote control. In the final exhibit, the dinosaurs will wake
up and perform animated sequences as museum visitors approach. They may even
get the opportunity to control the dinosaurs themselves via remote control.

Pierce grew up in Illinois and attended the University of Illinois where he
earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1988. After graduating,
he moved to Pennsylvania where he worked as a Project Engineer designing new
products for Lutron Electronics (a lighting controls manufacturer).

After that, his career took him to Alabama and upstate New York where he lead
new product development teams in the medical and transportation industries. Eventually
he landed in Western North Carolina in 1997 when he signed on with Welch Allyn
as the R&D Project Leader. In 2001, Pierce earned his master’s degree
in project management from Western Carolina University. When Welch Allyn announced
in 2003 that it would consolidate the Arden operation with the corporate headquarters
near Syracuse, NY, Pierce was among those who decided not to move to NY with
the operation. “We had lived in several parts of the county and we knew
we wouldn’t be as happy living anywhere other than Western North Carolina.”

After working about 1 year at Kearfott Guidance and Navigation in Black Mountain,
Pierce decided it was time to end his corporate career and break off to work
on his own. In early 2004, he started Knoll Creek Contracting, LLC and later
Interactive Electronics Design, LLC where his focus has been to provide custom electronic
controls for museums, science centers, and attractions.

Pierce is certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a Project
Management Professional (PMP) and is a senior member of the IEEE. In 2005, Pierce
was instrumental in designing the embedded electronic controls behind the MagiQuest
attraction in Myrtle Beach. MagiQuest is like a life-sized video gamein which
players physically roam the game environment to find objects, and solve puzzles.
Each player carries a “magic” wand, which he/she waves at objects
in the environment to produce magic and earn points. The wands are actually electronic
transmitters and the environment is covered with hundreds of hidden sensors.
The sensors are all connected to electronic nodes which drive motors, play sounds,
and flash lights among other effects to produce the “magic” of MagiQuest.
Every wand has a unique ID and the nodes are networked via Ethernet to central
computers. This allows the game system to track the progress of each player and
trigger special effects relevant to the player’s progress.

When asked what he likes about his job, Pierce says: “What I really like
is the feeling that what I do matters and that my work affects people in a positive
way. It’s also a lot of fun to play with or create all the neat technology
I get to work with.” Pierce plans to continue his focus on museums, science
centers, and attractions, but he is also interested in applying his capabilities to
serve any company in need of custom electronic design or electronic product development
support.